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Do The FDA's Proposed E-Cigarette Restrictions Go Far Enough?

The FDA invites public comment on the proposed rule for the next 75 days. In particular, the FDA said it was “seeking answers to the many public health questions” posed by e-cigarettes and other smokeless tobacco products.

Do you have thoughts? You can share your ideas with the FDA, but better yet, please share them in the comments below.

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It stands to reason that smoke inhalation is unhealthy. It is not a moral judgement but a physical fact. Any kind of smoke impedes the pulmonary funcion. Smoke consists of chedmicals (such as nicotine) that are damage cells. Damages cells can and do result in dieases. As someone who has lost more than 12 relatives including parents and sibings to cigarette smoking I can speak from experiece. Smoking causes and early (death) robbing one of decades of life (which is the only thing you really have) and turning the last ten years into a hades of chemo therapy and surgeries until finally the body cannot survive any longer (so it dies). [go figure..]

Which makes the fact that e-cigarettes do not produce smoke a good thing. :)

I sense some bias in this article. There are a number of problems in the “facts” presented here.

1. Sweet flavors – These are not necessarily aimed at young adults/children. Adults like sweets too. The flavors in e-cigarettes do great at keeping users from going back to cigarettes.

2. FDA “study” – The “study” from the FDA that found harmful toxins on e-liquids is outdated. The current crop of e-liquids do not contain those chemicals. Many of the independent studies now show that e-cigarette vapor is not safer than plain air, but better than the air we breathe in polluted cities.

3. US Teens trying vaping – lacks the numbers from teens that try real real cigarettes. Those numbers should be there for comparison. Of those that tried cigarettes and tried vaping, how many of them continued to do so for an extended period of time?

4. Nicotine poisoning reports – Most of these reports are people asking “what-if” questions. As the number of vapers rise, of course the number of calls asking about what should they do or what would happen if their kids get into contact with e-juice and if the nicotine contained would be a risk. For additional perspective on this, there are over 23,000 reports of fluoride toothpaste poisonings every year.

The highest concentration of nicotine on commercially available e-juice is less than half of the concentration levels that would actually cause problems with skin contact. Real injuries from nicotine exposure are rare. Only 1 death has been attributed to nicotine in e-juice and that was from a guy who committed suicide by injecting e-juice into himself with a syringe.

5. San Francisco Study – There are many other studies that show evidence to the contrary. At the very least, e-cigs are as successful (if not better) than other NRTs in helping people who want to quit nicotine. However, some have no intention of quitting at all and use e-cigarettes as a better alternative to smoking real cigarettes. Almost every study out there agrees that e-cigarettes are much less harmful than normal cigarettes so if they are using this as a replacement to smoking, then so be it in my opinion. Here are the results of a survey of over 19000 e-cigarette users from around the world:

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/4/4356

Do the regulations go too far?

In some ways I think it does. Why does it include 0-nicotine juices and devices?

I am not against regulation at all. Knowing better what ingredients flavors from e-juices include is a good thing. However, will the FDA be well equipped with dealing with the large number of manufacturers and each e-juice flavor and nicotine strength they produce? Would this mean e-cigarettes will cost more and make it less attainable for smokers who want to quit?

This is probably about right for the start. The pre-approval requirement could turn out to be problematic, but this was far better than I (as a smoker who no longer smokes thanks to ecigarettes) had feared. I was worried they would go the route of the EU.

It’s pretty important that they keep the flavoring (especially if you’re worried about gateways why would you want to make the ecigs taste like regular ones?), and that they don’t obstruct availability or neuter the devices to the point that cigarettes start looking attractive again.

They probably should have done more when it comes safety-proofing the vials.

I don’t consider banning claims of reduced risk with e cigs “science based regulation”, science clearly shows that they are at least safer than tobacco cigarettes. I’m all for restricting access for children and childproof packaging but your suggestion that flavors should be banned is ridiculous! I am 52 years old and quit smoking using e cigs and I enjoy the chocolate flavors, my 26 year old daughter, who also quit with electronic cigs, likes the fruit and candy flavors! One of my co-workers, age 73 with smoking related health problems, also quit using ecigs, which were recommended by his doctor by the way! Just like tobacco cigarettes and most prescription drugs, they should be kept out of reach of children. Sometimes all this stupid uproar over ecigs just seems like sour grapes; the “holier than thou” crowd can’t stand to see former smokers quit smoking painlessly and still enjoy themselves…….

We MUST also ban the horror this is laundry detergent! http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6141a1.htm “During May 17–June 17, 2012, a total of 1,008 laundry detergent exposures were reported to poison centers.”

I am 3 weeks tobacco free. I was extremely hesitant to start using an e cigarette based on all of the latest research I had seen in the news. Then I began noticing WHO was putting out all of the negative press. Big Tobacco. Finally, I began finding quite a bit more positive things about e cigs. Finally, what did it for me was the Drexel University professor who released a study that was very positive and informative. That very day I went out and bought my first e cigarette. The first 24 hours I had cut down to about 6 cigarettes. I was smoking almost 3 packs a day! The cost was not a consideration for me because I had been making my own cigarettes, which cost me 94 cents a pack so the investment of an e cig was significantly more money. I began to replace vaping for those “important” smokes… the first thing in the morning and the after a meal smoke. In two weeks I had only made 2 packs of smokes. I found myself at a point where I could make my carton for the week or just give it up and guess what? I QUIT SMOKING tobacco! I haven’t had a cigarette or the desire for one since the 15th of November. I’m on my 3rd full week of being tobacco free. So, all of you sanctimonious ass hats that want to tell me what to do… go pi$$ up a rope. I am so sick of people telling me what I can and can’t do with MY life. I decided to quit smoking on my own. I knew the health risks every time I lit up. I also didn’t start as a teen ager because my peers were doing it, I did it because my own mother got me hooked on tobacco as a lark because back in the 70′s it was COOL and everyone was doing it… I have 6 children with whom I discussed at length how bad my 3 pack a day habit was and how I forbade them from smoking. I do not want them smoking, but if they were to pick up and e cig when they are over 18, I will not stop them as it is THEIR right to do so. 1 out of my 6 children smokes. I offered to purchase one of these devices for him for Christmas and he told me NO THANKS, I still ENJOY smoking. One of my other kids thinks that e cigs are cool… I told him, they are a tool to quit smoking and I do not glamorize this new device. I started at 12mg of Nicotine and just ordered 6mg. I don’t know if I will ever put the device away, I fully enjoyed the act of smoking, the socialization smoking brought me, the breaks away from my desk, etc, etc. What I did not enjoy was NOT being able to sing or climb a flight of stairs. I can now do those things while STILL puffing on my e cigarette. Nicotine in and of itself is not a poison on the small doses used in the e cig. Yes, I’ve read it is used as a pesticide, but you’re talking volumes of pure Nicotine. Did YOU know that it’s also good in treating Parkinson’s Disease? ADHD? Probably not. You’re too busy touting your beliefs instead of researching. Should I be able to use this device at my desk? If I am sitting in my own office, absolutely? Should I be blowing big vapor clouds in your face? No, and I didn’t do that when I was a smoker either. Should I be forced to go hang out with other smokers now? Probably not. I’m trying to reform my behavior and those that wish to stick me back with the regular tobacco smokers are not doing me any justice. My choice is a healthier choice. I don’t smell like an ashtray, I don’t cough and hack like I used to and I can sing and climb a flight of stairs without feeling like I’m going to pass out. I know for a fact that this invention saved my life, as the inventor had intended. If Big Tobacco gets their hands on this product fully, I have no doubt in my mind that they will turn into something the inventor never intended, which was to get people completely hooked on them. Yes! You’re shocked right? Big Tobacco didn’t create this? NO! They didn’t. Taxing this product as if it were tobacco is also an appalling thought. This needs to be an affordable device. The health benefits needs to be in the news MORE than the adverse affects MIGHT be. More doctors that quietly sit in their offices who have seen changes in their patients for the positive needs to come forward and the scientists, not being paid by the FDA and Big Tobacco needs to come forward with their findings that say minute, negligible, not harmful results have been found! These are the studies that are getting hidden by the larger “The Sky is Falling” “I’m Losing Money” tobacco people… and for the people who believe that they are living in clean air environments… do you live under rocks? Do you live in caves? Are there no cars, buses, planes or trains in your area? Are there no factories polluting your water or air? From the results of the studies I have seen, your clean air is an illusion. You want to ban vapor just because you can see it? Do you avoid hot air coming out of a vent in the winter months because you can see it? That same vapor comes out of those same air vents in the summer months but you can’t see it. Let’s take up better causes… and get off my freaking back. You’re just mad because we found a way to ENJOY our Nicotine again and you can’t have me actually enjoying anything! If I decide to quit, that is on my. Am I really affecting your life now? Not really. I did when I was smoking tobacco, but I didn’t give that up for you… I gave that up for me.